Weekly corporate venturing deal net 26 – 30 September 2016
Each Friday the Global Corporate Venturing Deal Net rounds up the week’s smaller deals and tracks the emerging companies accessing corporate funds.
Big Deal: Alphabet books into Airbnb
Alphabet subsidiary Google Capital’s participation in Airbnb’s recently closed $850m round could presage advice on its newly formed innovation unit, as the company prepares to expand its offering.
Editorial: Smart capital drives industry to its future
Change has come even to the venture industry.
Fundraising
Nationwide Children’s Hospital partners Rev1 for $5.5m fund
The healthcare system has joined venture capital firm Rev1 Ventures for a unit that will invest in life sciences spinouts from its research institute.
Wayra joins UK government for cybersecurity accelerator
The Telefónica subsidiary will establish the accelerator initiative in partnership with the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport and intelligence agency GCHQ.
Havas brings corporate venturing fund to market
The France-based advertising and PR firm will provide capital and consulting to Australian startups through its newly formed Havas Ventures unit.
Microsoft Ventures gets the right Mindset
Microsoft has formed a collaboration with investment firm Mindset Ventures to fund Microsoft Accelerator graduates that can serve the Brazilian market.
Daimler’s Startup Autobahn accelerator reaches Singapore
The scheme, initiated in Stuttgart last year, will be replicated in Singapore in partnership with NUS Enterprise and Plug and Play.
Neusoft goes to Infinity with $250m fund
Neusoft has partnered Infinity to establish an investment vehicle aimed at helping medical technology startups from Israel boost their business in China.
MSD and Wayra UK accelerate Velocity
Merck Sharp & Dohme and Wayra UK have joined forces again to welcome a second cohort to their digital health accelerator program Velocity Health.
ServiceNow accounts for corporate venturing
ServiceNow has set up an investment division dubbed ServiceNow Ventures and launched a competition to award a total of $500,000 to startups.
Baidu takes $60m fund to the east
Baidu has made a lead investment in Easterly Ventures, following news earlier this month that the internet company is also launching a $200m corporate venturing arm and a $150m media-focused fund.
GE and Allied Minds study collaboration
GE Ventures and Allied Minds have established a strategic alliance to commercialise technologies from both partners’ pipelines.
Line queues up fund commitments
Line has committed capital to funds managed by DAG Ventures and Korelya Capital, with the latter also attracting money from Naver for a total of $112.
People
Iris Capital eyes two new partners
The Orange and Publicis-backed venture firm has hired Stéphane Pesqué as a partner and promoted Julien-David Nitlech to the same position.
Mérieux boosts investment team
Mérieux Développement has appointed Jean-François Billet, Daniel Fero and Benoit Pierret as it expands its investment capabilities in Europe and the US.
Exits
Nokia gets out of Intermedia in MDP acquisition
Nokia’s corporate venturing unit has exited cloud enterprise software company Intermedia, four years after investing in the company.
ForeScout Technologies explores flotation
Itochu and Intel-backed cybersecurity company ForeScout has entered talks with investment banks to underwrite an IPO that could value it at up to $1bn.
Nokia exits Gridsum in $87m IPO
China-based data analysis software producer Gridsum Holding has floated in the US, giving exits to Nokia Growth Partners and Disney affiliate Steamboat Ventures.
The drone-sourced data provider had raised $3.2m from Engie, Groupe Monnoyeur and its new owner Airware, which invested through its Commercial Drone Fund.
The business management software producer floated above its range in an offering that allowed Cisco to exit, and which could reach $110m in size.
One97 comes to the rescue as EduKart crashes
AKM Systems-backed online education marketplace EduKart has been acqui-hired by One97 Communications, after raising $2m in VC funding since 2011.
Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud, which was reported to be talking to Twitter about a sale until the social media company withdrew from negotiations in 2014.
The cloud enterprise platform, backed by Sapphire Ventures, is set to make its debut on Nasdaq today after securing nearly $238m in an initial public offering yesterday.
IT
Skyhigh to reach higher with $40m series D
The Salesforce-backed cloud security technology provider has now raised $105m altogether, with Thomvest Ventures leading its latest round.
Zhongnan constructs $15m Owtware investment
Owtware, already a portfolio company of SIG China, has added Zhongnan Holdings to its shareholders.
Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners has led a series B round for internet traffic management provider NS1.
Shape Security fits $40m into series D
GV had backed an initial $25m close in January 2016, with the extension provided by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Health
Merck Ventures takes a ride on iOMX
Immuno-oncology startup iOmx Therapeutics has raised $45m in a series A round that will support the progress of its candidates to proof-of-concept stage.
Eli Lilly breaches Fortis in $18m series A
The pharmaceutical company’s Lilly Asia Ventures unit was among the investors for the first round closed by the immuno-oncology startup.
LinkedCare sinks its teeth into $10m
Fosun and DXY have co-led series A and A+ rounds for LinkedCare, which operates a cloud-based platform for dentists and patients.
ReadCoor visualises $23m series A
The gene sequencing technology developer has been spun out of Harvard University with $23m in series A capital provided by investors including Eli Lilly.
Media
Live video streaming service Panda TV has received $54m in a LeCloud-led series A round that valued it at $360m.
Line seasons $45m Snow investment
Line has purchased a 25% stake in Snow, which operates an ephemeral photo sharing app similar to that of corporate-backed Snap.
Qihoo 360 helps stream $45m to Huajiao
The round was led by China state-owned entity Zhongshoujian and included a $9m contribution from Qihoo 360.
Consumer
Gametime closes $20m series B round
The last-minute ticketing app developer has now raised $33m in total, adding GV and the CAA-backed Evolution Media Partners to its investor base.
Didi Chuxing enters Ofo’s funding cycle
Bicycle sharing service Ofo has received an eight-figure dollar amount of funding from Didi Chuxing as part of a strategic collaboration agreement.
Instacart consumes Whole Foods funding
Whole Foods has invested a reported $36m in strategic partner Instacart at a $2bn valuation, taking its overall venture funding to more than $310m.
Wal-Mart enters talks to drive $1bn Flipkart investment
The big box retail group is beefing up its online commerce activities and could invest up to $1bn in the India-based e-commerce company.
Sinovation Ventures, a VC firm backed by Foxconn, has taken part in a series B+ round for AI Nemo, which simultaneously revealed it previously obtained $30m.
FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn, has returned to back a $125m funding round for Tink Labs, which places mobile phones in hotel rooms to help visitors avoid roaming charges.
Home Chef cooks up $40m series B
L Catterton, the private equity firm backed by LVMH, has led a series B funding round for Home Chef, which operates a meal kit delivery service.
Financial
Juzhen coins $23m in series A funding
Juzhen Financials is developing blockchain technology aimed at the financial sector and secured the capital in a round led by Wanxiang Holdings.
Kyriba banks on Bpifrance for series D
France’s public investment bank Bpifrance has led a $23m series D round for Kyriba, which previously attracted capital from American Express.
Yisheng Jinfu books $82m series B
The HNA subsidiary has obtained the cash from another HNA division, HNA-Caissa Travel Group.
Energy and Natural Resources
D.light pleases investors for $22.5m
The Mahindra & Mahindra-backed solar system supplier has closed $15m in series D funding alongside $7.5m in debt and grant financing.
Industrial
Finalcad builds $20m series B round
Aster Capital, a VC firm backed by Alstom, Schneider and Solvay, has co-led a $20m series B round for construction software developer Finalcad.
Transport
Bloomberg helps ship $65m to Flexport
Bloomberg Beta made its third investment in the smart freight service, which has now raised $94m in total and is valued in excess of $300m.
Services
Microsoft gets in Kahoot for $10m round
Existing investor Microsoft Ventures has taken part in a Creandum-led funding round for the educational game development platform also backed by Northzone.
Qualcomm rings Bell for $12m series A
Bell Education Group operates an online-to-offline business that lets students play educational games after class, while parents can track their children’s progress online.
Xiaochuan Chuhai does its series B homework
Legend Capital has returned to take part in a $60m series B round for the mobile homework app developer, having taken part in its series A round last year.
ProsperWorks thrives with $24m series B
Bloomberg-backed CRM software developer ProsperWorks has boosted its total funding to $34m and is now looking to expand internationally.
Apttus cashes in on $88m series D
Salesforce-backed Apttus has added $88m to its coffers in a round that featured return backers such as sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority, as it gears up for an IPO.